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Minibus Licence

Every day in the UK a fleet of minibuses takes to the roads to transport passengers to medical appointments, on sightseeing trips, and to take care of routine errands such as shopping. Minibus drivers provide a valuable service by safely carrying their passengers to and from wherever they happen to be going. Doing so professionally requires a minibus licence, usually in the form of either a Category D1 or D1+E licence.

Any plans you might have to become a professional minibus driver should include appropriate training before you attempt to obtain your licence. Training is essential to demonstrating you have the knowledge and skills necessary to hold a valid licence in the UK.

The Specialised Training Services (HGV Training Centre) provides training for minibus candidates. Furthermore, we offer more than four dozen training facilities throughout the UK for your convenience. If you have been looking to find the best minibus licence training in your local area, you have come to the right place. We are among the best in the business as evidenced by our industry-wide reputation.

Knowing If You Need a Licence

One of the first things we do with minibus licence candidates is walk them through the regulatory details to determine if they need a licence to begin with. Your first consideration is whether or not you plan to operate a minibus on a volunteer or for-hire basis. Along with that is the date on which you first obtained your car licence.

Drivers who obtained a car licence prior to 1 January 1997 can drive a minibus on a volunteer basis with no additional licence necessary. Those same drivers do need a minibus licence if they want to drive professionally or with certain medical conditions. Those drivers who obtained their car licences after the 1997 deadline must have a minibus licence whether they are driving professionally or as volunteers.

There are two licences minibus drivers typically have. As a future minibus driver, you will be interested in earning one of the following:

Category D1 – This is the most basic PCV licence enabling you to drive a minibus with a seating capacity of up to 16 and towing a trailer no heavier than 750 kg.

Category D1+E – This licence also allows you to drive a minibus with a seating capacity of up to 16 but with a trailer in excess of 750 kg in tow.

It is imperative to point out that drivers who do not need the PCV entitlement due to earning their car licence prior to 1997 MAY NOT tow a trailer with a minibus despite being able to drive such vehicles on a voluntary basis. Any driver wishing to tow a trailer must get the additional entitlement.

Defining the Minibus

The next thing to know for students looking to obtain a minibus licence is what the definition of a minibus actually is. There’s no point in working toward a minibus licence if you actually need a licence to drive buses or coaches. The Road Vehicles (Construction and Use) Regulations of 1986 defines a minibus as follows:

“… a motor vehicle that has been constructed or adapted to carry between 9 and 16 passengers in addition to the driver. Minibuses are utilised by many organisations in the private & corporate sector as an essential mode of transport for staff and clients.”

A passenger vehicle with a seating capacity of fewer than eight would be considered a taxi or livery vehicle; one with a seating capacity more than 16 would be a bus or coach. Despite the official delineations, most of us understand a minibus as being a slightly larger passenger vehicle built on a standard van frame. They are vehicles used to transport schoolchildren, physically challenged individuals, senior citizens, etc.

Training for Your Licence

Once you have determined the necessity of having a minibus licence, your next step is to find a reliable training provider. As we stated earlier, the Specialised Training Services (HGV Training Centre) is among the best in the business. We have been successfully training professional drivers for decades. It is easy to find a local training facility near you just by following the ‘Our Locations’ link on this website.

We understand that anyone can claim to be the best in the business. Training companies do it all the time. But we do more than just make claims, we prove them every single day. For starters, we put several hundred drivers through our training programmes every single month. That says something. So many drivers coming to us for training is solid evidence that we deliver as advertised.

Second, we believe one of the best ways to measure a training provider’s success is to look at first-time pass rates for testing. Where the average PCV pass rate across the UK hovers around 55%, approximately 90% of our students pass the first time. Our first-time pass rate for the PCV theory test averages 92%.

How do we succeed in achieving such great numbers? Through faithfully implementing the following each and every day:

Concentrated Training – Our training is provided in short, intense bursts that are ideal for learning, retaining, and recalling information. We do not make it more difficult for students by extending training classes for unnecessarily long periods of time.

Relevant Resources – The training resources we use (including equipment) is all up-to-date and completely relevant. Our students learn what they need to learn to pass their tests and work in the real world.

Dedicated Support – Each of our students is provided with a designated support specialist who handles everything from administrative tasks to answering the most common questions.

Experienced Instructors – We hire only instructors who have real-world experience as professional drivers. They know what it takes to produce a successful driver because they have done it themselves.

Extra Help – We also know that not every student learns at the same pace. Our instructors have been trained to provide individualised, extra help to students who might be struggling. This additional help is just the thing most of them need to succeed.

It should be clear that the Specialised Training Services (HGV Training Centre) is in this to win. Our entire minibus licence training programme is intended to get you to work as quickly as possible. It is not to take your money while we carry on a seemingly endless training programme that could take months to complete.

Fast, Affordable, and Convenient

We are confident in claiming that the Specialised Training Services (HGV Training Centre) is among the best in the business for minibus licence training. If you are still not convinced, we offer you three final things to think about:

We Are Fast – The average student undergoing minibus licence training can complete the programme in a maximum of a few weeks. Experienced drivers who have already driven on a volunteer basis can often complete the programme in one week.

We Are Affordable – Our size and years of experience enable us to keep our training costs low. You will find our prices very competitive and affordable for most budgets. Also, we offer a financing option for every class we teach.

We Are Convenient – We can say we are the best training company in your local area because we currently operate more than four dozen training centres throughout the UK. We have training centres in and around most metropolitan areas – you are never far away from local minibus licence training.

Now you know all of the basics about the Specialised Training Services (HGV Training Centre) and our minibus licence training. The rest is up to you. We invite you to put us to the test and see if we truly are among the best in the business.

Further Relevant Information

To learn more about becoming a professional Minibus driver you may find the articles listed below useful.